Jofa Recomended

This encyclopedia seeks to make available to all who are interested in Jewish history and culture the varied accomplishments of Jewish women and their many contributions to the Jewish historical experience over the course of the past three millennia. The online edition makes this wealth of information available to anyone, anywhere, and will allow scholars and more casual readers to propose updates and, in a later stage, to upload new articles. This first iteration creates easy access to the articles on the CD-ROM and gives users the opportunity to add links, updates, and suggestions for new content.

This paper deals with the 3 main issues that were discussed in the OU's paper (addressed orthodox women clergy) which are the meaning of the term Mesorah and its use as an argument tool, the Halachic arguments used as proof that women can not be clergy and the general issue of gender roles.

Bronznick writes about women being and becoming a powerful source of Jewish professional leadership, and the benefits to the entire community of tapping into this talented and still largely untapped pool of Jewish leaders.

JOFA founding president, Blu Greenberg, discusses the ways in which women are increasingly populating leadership positions within the Orthodox community, such as day school principals, scholars-in-residence, and shul presidents. Greenberg asserts that Orthodox women who take on new public roles should find strength in linking their work to the rich tradition of previous generations of Orthodox women who, though their stories sometimes went untold and their leadership roles often lacked fancy titles, were also powerful agents for social change.

Shaw-Frank investigates the life of Devorah, perhaps the Bible's most famous female leader, who was also a judge, prophet and war strategist. Shaw-Frank demonstrates that Devorah was more than an archetype of a hardened career woman. Instead, Devorah was a powerful leader who found strength in the legacy of the holy women who preceded her, as she used her feminine strength and nurturing abilities to earn great achievements in a traditionally male role.

Nowadays, when the value of Torah learning is transmitted to women as well as men, this ruling carries special importance. Today, since we can now find women fervently studying the Shas and the poskim, while receiving masoret from Torah scholars, they may certainly pasken.

In recent years, women have published several studies that take a feminist perspective on the development of halakhic issues. While these studies appear under the guise of academic objectivity, it is also clear that they strive, by means of legal or historic analysis, to influence the nature of p'sak regarding concrete areas of concern to women. Examining issues relating to kol isha, this session will demonstrate the potential of feminist insight and women's voices in a broader metaphoric sense to enhance or supplement current halakhic considerations in a manner that is more oblique yet at the same time more profound in its implications for women's status in halakha at large.

New sources are continually being added to JOFA.org. Check back often.

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